Four Kingdoms: A Queen in Killers Clothing
by The Black Flareon
Summary: Rixis enjoyed a mostly peaceful life as a body-guard for the Eastern Kingdom's royal family, until an encounter with an old foe from his military past changes everything. Now he must team up with an former comrade in a whirlwind adventure to find a missing princess, stop a war brewing between east and west, and get revenge on the one who destroyed his whole life. SUSPENDED U.F.N.
1. Chapter 1: The Man in Black

**Four Kingdoms: A Queen in Killers Clothing**

**Ch.1: The Man in Black**

A bright light surrounding a familiar shadow flooded my vision as I awoke from what was a nice nap. "Valo, get up. It's almost noon and we have to get ready for our trip." My mother demanded in a stern but somewhat soothing voice.

"What trip?" I asked still face down in my pillow.

She shook her head as a sigh escaped her lips, "We have to go to and meet with the Kings of the Western and Southern Kingdoms about sending aid to the Southern Kingdom." I groaned as I fully sat up and looked at my mother's smiling face. Her expression changed to one of sarcastic disappointment.

"You know, most days I don't mind you keeping your fur a mess, but today is not one of those days." My ears folded back and I hung my head as I realized what she was about to do. I let out a small whimper as she motioned to the door. We stepped out into the large hallway, Two Dewotts of the Royal Guard were there to greet us.

"Good evening your highness." They both said with a bow. "Shall we escort Princess Valo to Anya for the usual pre-journey treatment?" they asked pointing down the hallway.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. I still have things I have to do before the king gets impatient." My mother responded with a relieving sigh. The two Dewott guards stepped aside as my mother brushed past them with a noticeably increased pace.

"Right this way your highness." One of the guards stated while motioning his hand in the opposite direction of where my mother went.

We began to walk down the hall. The guards posted in the hall bowed as we passed on our way to the room where Anya spent most of her time. Anya has been my family's personal groomer and stylist since before I was born and as a Gardevoir, she was able to multiple things at once using her psychic abilities. I paused to look out of one of the large windows overlooking the courtyard in front of the palace.

It was a beautiful day outside and our carriage that was going to take us to the Western Kingdom's capital city was just arriving. The carriage rounded the large fountain that centered the courtyard and stopped perpendicular to the front door. The door on the swung open as a small black furred creature exited from the carriage. The creature was about my size but with deep black fur and a large, fluffy light blue tail with equally fluffy plumage donning a spot in between its ears and around its neck. I recognized the creature as my family's personal body-guard, Rixis.

Most people didn't understand why a Flareon would have black fur, but then again, people never gave him the time to explain it.

"Of course your father would bring that freak along. He never seems to go anywhere without it." One of the Dewott guards escorting me scoffed.

I shot him a displeased look that caught him off guard, "Why do you people hate him so much?" I asked with an apathetic tone. "He has done nothing but dedicate his life to protecting my family, and yet, all people ever do is mock and degrade him." The guard shrank back from the window, an obvious look of defeat across his face.

"Come now Princess, we mustn't keep Anya waiting. We all know what would happen if we did." The other guard said as he gave me a gentle nudge.

*Rixis POV*  
A few moments earlier

I swung the door of the carriage open and briskly hopped out on to the cobblestone pavement. Looking around I noticed that everyone in the courtyard was staring at me. Most of the time the stares of the general populace didn't bother me, they had reason to stare. I'm the only one of my kind as well as one of the only Eeveelutions in the Eastern Kingdom. Today was different though; I had a long journey to the Western Kingdom coming up, and I was going to be in the cabin with the royal family for the whole trip, so I had to keep my mind on the job.

Scanning the local area, I saw several guards, a couple of nobles shooting me dirty looks, and the occasional servant doing their respective duties. One thing in particular caught my eye. In one of the windows facing toward the courtyard I noticed the familiar face of Princess Valo. She looked as if she was repremanding one of the guards before she disappeared from the window.

My ears flattened against my body as I saw her leave. Valo was one of the few people in this kingdom that actually had any respect for me, that and she seemed to care greatly for the way others treated me. I shook my head violently trying to clear the thoughts of Valo from my mind when suddenly my ears shot up as the front door creaked open.

A larger than average Luxray clad in royal garments began to walk up toward me, never breaking eye contact, until we were face to face. We sat there for a moment before a broad smile lit up the Luxray's stern complexion.

"Rixis my boy, how have you been?" he boomed as one of his large paws landed swiftly on my shoulder.

"Rather well, your highness, despite the locals usually warm welcome." I answered in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't worry about them Rixis," The King said with a reassuring tone. "They wouldn't be so judgmental if they only knew what you have done for this kingdom."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but their opinions are their own, no matter how much they do get on my nerves." I answered with the sound of my aggravation clear as day.

"Sire, the servants have finished loading the other carriage with your luggage for your extended stay in the Western Kingdom." One of the guards proclaimed as he approached the two of us.

"Excellent, tell the servants that they can have the rest of the day off. We shall be departing shortly." The King said with a nod of approval.

We watched as the Dewott rushed off into the palace to deliver the news to the servants. "Ok Rixis, why don't we go and see if we can find my wife and daughter." The King said as he nudged me forward with one of his large paws.

We strode through the immaculately decorated halls of the palace on our way guards bowed for the king and some shot me mean looks. I tried not to think about them so much, the king was always riding me about not letting them get to me. He stopped right in front of a door to one of the smaller unused rooms.

"Rixis, I want to talk to you about something important in private, if you don't mind." The king said as he motioned to the door to the room.

The door to the small room creaked open with a curtain of dust falling from the inside of the door. It was an old store-room, empty dust-covered shelves lined the room.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about sir?" I asked as I turned around.

The king bent down and I was looking right in to a pair of bright glowing gold eyes, the happy look on his face from earlier replaced by one of immense seriousness. "Rixis, this conversation is not king to body-guard, but rather man to man. Now…I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to be truthful. There will be no negative repercussions, no matter your answers. Do you understand?" the king said in a low tone, further implying his seriousness.

"Yes sir, I fully understand. What do you need to know?" I answered not fully grasping the situation.

"Rixis…do you have feelings for my daughter, Valo?" the king asked with the tone only a father could have.

I felt my heart skip a beat. I did, in fact have a bit of a crush on the princess, but I kept that in check by the fact that I was not of noble birth and I didn't think there would ever be any shot at it. The king sat with a straight face as he awaited my answer. I cleared my throat as I readied myself for the worst.

"Sir…"

"Rixis," the king interrupted me. "We are equals here. I want you to call me by my real name."

I took in a deep breath and looked back at the king, "To be honest Zalto, I do have some feelings for Valo. Why?"

He let out a sigh and shot me a look of relief. "Rixis, I'm getting to the point in my reign where I will need to choose an heir to my throne. Most royal families would suggest that I pick from one of the noble families sons, but I know that most of them are not too fond of the way I rule this kingdom."

He stopped and looked at me to make sure I was paying attention. I was but I was perplexed at what the king was getting at.

"Why would he be talking to me about choosing an heir?" I thought to myself

"I…I'm not sure what you are getting at, what does this have to do with me?" I asked.

King Zalto lowered his head muttering something to himself before returning eye contact with me. "I'm not sure how to say this but…I want you to be my heir." He said with a soft tone, trying not to be heard.

My eyes widened as the shock of what he just said. I couldn't breathe; I couldn't even hear myself think with the way my heart was pounding in my chest. "Why me?" I asked, the words finally managing to escape my mouth.

"I've known it was you for some time actually. To be honest, I have pondered this question since our victory at Blackwall." He answered, trying to give me an explanation.

"What does Blackwall have to do with choosing me as an heir?" I asked; intrigued as to why the king would bring up the events of the Southlands War.

My jaw clenched and my eyes snapped shut as a sharp stinging pain washed across the right side of my face, emanating from the scar that extended from the corner of my mouth to the base of the puff of fur on the top of my head. Just the thought of that month in hell brought all the pain from that day flooding back.

The king put a paw on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. "I'm sorry to open old wounds, Rixis, but that last day is how I knew. You threw me aside, sacrificing yourself, to block an attack from that psychic that should have killed you. You were willing to give up everything to save me and this kingdom. You did more on that day than anyone could have asked for you to do…and that is why I chose you Rixis. You are the only one I feel worthy to lead the people of this kingdom into a brighter future." The king said in a comforting tone, while softly patting my shoulder.

The pain in my face subsided to a degree that I could actually open my tear filled eyes. The king looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I…I don't know what to say. This…This is just so much all at once and for the first time, I don't know what to do." I stammered, still letting it all sink in.

The king placed both of his huge paws on my face, forcing eye contact, "For once, say and do nothing. There are those in my high council that would shout treason to the heavens if they knew anything of what we have just discussed. You must keep this a secret. I will explain everything to my family when we get some time alone in the Western Kingdom, then we can work out greater details later. Right now, we must go fetch my wife and daughter." He stated with the sound of absolute certainty.

A small smile came across my face as he turned toward the door.

"After all, you still are my body-guard." He said with chuckle as the door to the hallway creaked open.


	2. Chapter 2: On the Road Again

Four Kingdoms: A Queen in Killers Clothing

Ch.2: On the Road Again

*Valo POV*

I cringed as multiple combs and brushes raked through my fur, pulling hairs as they made their way from head to tail. This continued for what felt like forever and was finally ended by a knock on the door.

A sigh slipped from my lips as I heard the brushes land on the table.

"Good evening your highness, what a pleasure to see you." Anya said with a slight curtsy.

"It's a pleasure to see you too Anya. How goes the grooming?" My mother asked with a slight chuckle.

"We're pretty much done. There isn't anything else I can really do to that girl's hair without having to get scissors." Anya answered.

I flopped down on my chest as she released her psychic grip on my body and quickly shot back up on to my feet.

"Oh thank god that's over." I said to myself as I tried as hard as I could to keep from violently shaking off whatever that Gardevoir put on my fur. Whatever it was, it felt like a thousand tiny needles poking me simultaneously and I hated it.

"Valo, don't shake." My mother said sternly. "It will stop being irritating in a little while."

"There's my beautiful wife and daughter!" My father boomed as he entered the room with Rixis in tow.

"Oh dear..." Anya stated shaking her head at Rixis. "Rixis, your fur looks awful. Do you want me to give it a quick brushing or anything?"

"No." Rixis shot back with the sound of aggravation on his voice.

"If you even think about it, I will not hesitate to light you on fire. No one gets to do anything with my fur but me."

"Rixis, calm down." My father ordered Rixis.

He sat down on his haunches with an audible huff of annoyance. "My dear, are you ready to go?" My father asked my mom softly.

"Yes, I was only waiting for Anya to get done with Valo." She answered while giving me a nudge to get up.

The king gave a similar nudge to Rixis and he headed out towards the door.

As we made our way down the hall on the way to the courtyard, Rixis walked beside me with my parents ahead of us. They were discussing something about what they were going to be doing in the Western Kingdom.

I heard Rixis let out a quick sigh. There was something that was troubling him, I just knew it.

I caught a quick glance in his direction. His head hung a little lower than he usually had it, and his tail didn't have its usual bounciness.

"Rixis, are you ok?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't snap at me.

"To be honest Valo, no, I'm not. It's just been one of those days for me." He answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

I was truly concerned for him. I know he had been through a lot in his life, and most of it was in service of my family.

"People just get to me sometimes. They stare and talk about me like I'm a monster who's out to get them. Most days I can shrug it off and continue with my day, but it builds after a while." Rixis confessed with a pang of sadness across his face.

"It'll be fine, were going away from here for a while, think of it like a vacation." I said cheerily hoping to put him in a better mood.

"I hope so, I really hope so." He replied with a long sigh.

We approached the large door that lead to the courtyard where the carriage was waiting. The guards at the door pushed it open for us and bowed as we passed by.

"Have a safe trip Your Highness." The guards happily proclaimed. My mother and father gave them a thankful nod as they passed through the door.

As Rixis and I passed they said the same thing to me but shot Rixis a look of pure displeasure, so I gave them the same.

*Rixis POV*

There was a loud clanging noise as the large doors closed behind us.

The courtyard had emptied since I arrived, no doubt because the king had ordered the servants to take the day off. The carriage was still there, waiting for its royal cargo.

"Something's not right, that's not the same driver that picked me up." I thought to myself as I observed the king and queen getting into the carriage.

"Valo get in, I need to discuss some things with the driver." I said to Valo with a stern tone.

"Ok, just don't take too long." She replied with a playful tone as she hopped up into the carriage.

I shut the door behind her and turned to face the driver. "So what happened to the other driver?"

He looked at me with a confused look for a moment, "Oh him, yeah he heard the news of the other servants getting the day off. So he took off toward the nearest pub. He shot me a few coins to take his place." He answered with a laugh.

_Flashback_

_*? POV*_

_Shortly after King Zalto and Rixis entered the palace_

_The Marshtomp was sitting patiently in the driver's seat, feet kicked up; waiting for the royal family to arrive so they could get going. _

_"Hey driver, get down here." I called. _

_The driver let out a annoyed moan as he dropped down from his comfy spot. He hesitated to open his mouth for a second after landing, seeing as he barely saw above my waist. _

_"L…Lady Kanti, what can I help you with?" he asked with a slight quiver in his voice._

_ "I want you to leave." I replied as I bent down so he could look me in the eyes._

_ "My lady what do you mean?" he asked with a bit of a fear in his voice. _

_I know I look scary to these water-types, it's not every day in this kingdom that they see a dark-type but then again, as a Zoroark, most people never see what I actually look like. _

_A small purse full of coins landed in the Marshtomp drivers hand as I changed to look like him. _

_He stared, dumbstruck, for a moment at what he just saw. _

_"That's what I mean, go get drunk or something." I told the driver with a stern tone of a male Marshtomp. _

_"Thanks, it's been a while since I got paid to drink." He said cheerily as he headed towards town._

_ "Well that was easy, I trust Rixis to be able to handle anything, especially after Blackwall, but this is an unusually low amount of security for a cross-country royal journey." I thought to myself as I hopped up to assume the same position as the driver was in._

_End Flashback_

*Rixis POV*

I stared at the Marshtomp for a moment. He seemed a little nervous, but that's normal for people around here.

"Do you know the route that we are taking?" I asked expecting him to at least have gathered that information from the previous driver.

He reached into his satchel that hung off his shoulder and pulled out a small map. "Yep, the last driver was kind enough to leave his map and gear here when he left."

"Alright, if you need anything, that includes sleep, just let me know. I want to get there without stopping." I told him before jumping up into the carriage. T

he inside of the carriage was beautiful.

It was lined from floor to roof with a visually pleasing seating material that was surprisingly comfortable and actually pleasant to be on.

The Royal family stopped their incoherent chatter and looked straight at me when I shut the door behind myself.

"Rixis, so glad of you to join us, come have a seat." The King said with a laugh motioning for me to take a seat next to Princess Valo.

I padded over to the spot and dropped down on to my chest, wrapping my fluffy tail around my body.

"Rixis is everything ready, are we going to be leaving now?" the queen asked in her usual angelic voice.

"Yes my queen, we should begin moving any moment." I answered.

Not shortly after that I heard a loud yell from the driver and the carriage shuttered forward gradually evening out with momentum.

The city began to pass by with decent pace. Every now and then through the blur of buildings and markets I would see a random citizen wave as the carriage passed by.

It was nice to see the people of the kingdom enjoying this beautiful day.

The carriage was designed for trips like this, on the inside it was wonderful, but on the outside the carriage looked like any other one on the road.

I felt a series of pokes in my side and turned to see that it was Valo, "Are you exited too, Rixis?" she asked with an energetic voice.

"A little bit." I admitted. "This will be the first time I've been outside the Eastern Kingdom in over a year."

"Then I think this will be good for you." Queen Paltria said with a slight nod.

"Rixis, you know what you need." The king suddenly chimed in on the conversation. "What you need is…"

"Some sleep." I interrupted him.

"Well, I'm sure we can at least give him a couple of hours of sleep." The queen said as she turned to face the king.

"If he's getting a nap, so am I." Valo proudly exclaimed before planting her face firmly in my fluffy tail.

"Sometimes I don't understand that child, it's like she can't get enough sleep." The king chuckled sarcastically.

"Me neither." I said as I placed my head on the pillow that was originally for Valo.

It felt good to finally get some sleep on a trip; usually I had to stay awake the entire time. My eyelids slowly but surely forced their way down and I drifted off into what I hoped would be just a short nap and began to dream.

"_Rixis!" Kanti called out over the commotion of the ensuing battle. "We have to get to that tower, the king's already on his way there." _

_"Understood, I'll meet you there." I yelled back. _

_The tower was on the other side of the large gateway that dominated the destroyed façade that used to be the fortress city of Blackwall. _

_"We should really stick together. We would make better time that way." Kanti demanded._

_ "Your right, I'll come to you." I Answered as I leapt forward._

_ Thankfully the area I was in was on the Eastern Kingdoms side of the battle, so I didn't have to worry about running into anything. _

_I stopped dead in my tracks as a spray of blood erupted as hundreds of ice shards peppered the small group of soldiers in front of me. I turned to see what launched it. _

_An older Weavile defiantly stood across from me with a cocky grin._

_ "You're next." He scoffed as a flurry of shards flew toward me, but I was ready for it._

_ I sucked in a lungful of air and forced it out. A column of bright red flames plunged forward from my mouth, incinerating everything they touched for yards past where the Weavile used to be standing. _

_The air hissed from the intense heat and began to smell of burnt flesh. A black line was all that remained of everything in the path my attack. _

_I had no time to care, I had to get to that tower, and nothing was going to stand in my way._

_ I caught up to Kanti shortly after; she had a slight expression of concern on her face. "Don't you think that was a bit excessive?" she asked with a small huff. _

_"No I don't. He knew exactly what he had gotten himself into." I replied through a series of panting breaths. _

_"We should hurry. The battle seems to be moving away from the tower." Kanti said as she signaled for us to move forward. _

_We made our way through the hoard of Eastern Kingdom soldiers to the clearing where the tower stood defiantly among the rubble of the wall. "So the king is already here?" I asked Kanti. _

_"Well he should be, he was half way there when I left to find you." She replied. _

_"In that case, let's get a mo…"_

_ My sentence was cut short by a flash of blue and a splash of red, followed by a searing pain on my face. _

_I fell to the earth clutching my face as I screamed in pain, my paws drenched in my own blood._

_ "Rixis, No!" Kanti screamed as she rushed my way. The world became an increasingly blurry shade of red as Kanti finally reached me._

_ She shook me trying to keep me from passing out, but I could feel it coming on. I had lost too much blood to remain conscious. _

_"Rixis, stay with me…Rixis….Rixis…." _


End file.
